Liang’s Kitchen - San Gabriel, CA
Among the numerous Taiwanese delicacies, beef noodle soup (niu rou mien aka NRM) is one of the classics and my standard order whenever trying a new Chinese restaurant. Residents of the San Gabriel Valley area of Los Angeles are blessed with no lack of restaurants that serve this delicious noodle dish.
Throughout my life, I’ve always had a couple go-to favorites for NRM that updated as old haunts closed and my tastes changed with time. Mandarin Noodle Deli in Temple City, CA has been a consistent top-runner for the past couple years, but a new champion has emerged. Boldly put, the beef noodle soup at Liang’s Kitchen is the best I’ve had in Southern California and would be a top contender in Taiwan.
Japanese pens
Now that I’m a medical student in the clinical years, rounding at the hospital is a big part of my daily routine. What we do is get to the hospital early in the morning, check up on our assigned patients and see how they’re doing, and then “round” with the entire team and attending doctor. This involves stopping by each patient on the service and giving a short presentation/update so that the team learns about different patients. That’s how we gain experience and level up.
I take lots of notes during rounds, and I’ve discovered that multi-color pens can be extremely helpful so I can color-code to easily pick out specific information. American office chains like Staples and Office Max stock some multi-color pens, but color selection is limited and the pen designs are bland. This is where I turn to JetPens, an awesome online store with a great design and tons of clear product photos. If you’ve ever been to a Japanese stationary store, surely you’ve gawked at the immense selection of pens and pencils on display. JetPens is a perfect online counterpart that captures the “kid in a candy store” sensation I feel in those stores.
Buzzer Beat post-mortem
After my cautiously optimistic impressions of the first three Buzzer Beat episodes, this Japanese drama continued to get better, transforming into a genuinely and surprisingly great show. The pacing in particular was impressive. Revelations that might take a few episodes to unravel in other shows were quickly addressed by the characters, forsaking much of the agonizing waiting found in stereotypical dramas. The plot was moving forward swiftly, the characters had great chemistry amongst them… this show was looking like a slam dunk.
But as the finale approached, Buzzer Beat lost its momentum and concluded with an utterly worthless final episode. Where did it all go wrong?
U mad?
I’m starting a new page dedicated to all the lovely rage-quitters on Street Fighter 4 who disconnect during the match while I’m delivering a beatdown. I actually look forward to these sore losers now because I can add them to my collection!
This screenshot is so perfect.
Foo-Foo Tei - Hacienda Heights, CA
For Labor Day holiday, the medical school granted Med 3s a week long break and I took advantage, escaping home to Los Angeles. L.A. is one of the great food cities but I always hit the same cluster of favorite restaurants whenever I get the scarce opportunity to fly home.
This time, however, I made a focused effort to try new places and brought along a camera to document the visits. Rather than posting half a dozen consecutive restaurant reviews, my plan is to space them out for variety. Some of these probably won’t be published until December or beyond, but this isn’t time-sensitive information anyway so no biggie.
First up is Foo-Foo Tei, a Hacienda Heights ramen shop hidden in a desolate, quiet neighborhood. Their claim to fame is a menu featuring a whopping 31 ramen varieties — hence their slogan “1 Noodle A Day”. One ambitious blogger took it literally and spent an entire month eating a different ramen every day. On my visit, I tried their most popular ramen (Nanchatte Tonkotsu). Fairly tasty, but for all of the ramen hype, the Tonkatsu Curry was my highlight.
He Who Can’t Marry
Remakes of popular Asian dramas by different countries are fairly common in this business. Taiwan’s Meteor Garden (2001), Japan’s Hana Yori Dango (2005), and South Korea’s Boys Before Flowers (2009) all tell the same story with the same characters, and all three were blockbuster hits.
He Who Can’t Marry (2009) is South Korea’s remake of Japan’s Kekkon Dekinai Otoko (2006), one of my favorite dramas of all time. In brief, the plot is about a neurotic architect who infuriates people around him because he is self-absorbed and freely speaks his mind without concern for others. Nevertheless, he is very successful because of his excellent building designs and quest for perfection. Through some chance encounters, his neighbor and a doctor at the local hospital become involved in his life. Although they are frequently annoyed by his behavior, they inexplicably feel an attachment to him.
My review of the Japanese version talks a bit more about the plot. It’s a realistic drama with ubiquitous but subtle humor. When it comes to remakes, comparing different versions is inevitable, so my review of He Who Can’t Marry will examine the differences between the two.
Taiwanese girl’s project: “Kiss 100 men in Paris”
This news story has been racing around the Taiwanese blogosphere so I wanted to share with a different audience. Yang Ya-ching (楊雅晴) is a 27 year old music student studying abroad in Paris. She is apparently done with her degree and wanted a memorable parting gift, so she launched a project to kiss 100 strangers in Paris. At the end of all this, she’s planning on writing a book about her experience so she has a photographer tag along to capture the kisses. This is her photo album so far, she’s up to 54 kisses!
I liked the fiery color in this one. Perhaps not too surprising that the guys she kisses are all fairly good looking. She doesn’t look 100% Taiwanese though, and I’m fairly certain she’s mixed although I couldn’t confirm it.
I have some readers who read my site through RSS so I wanted to take this opportunity to plug my Twitter feed. People use Twitter in various ways — I use the micro-blogging service predominantly as a links dispensary. That way I can avoid writing low-content posts like this one on my site and still conveniently share interesting videos and articles. I’ve been using Twitter more and more so consider following me if you read my site!
Med 3 July rotation: Ophthalmology
When I first started this blog as my senior year of college was winding down, medical school was just a few months away. My original vision was, sure, to have the gaming and entertainment discussion you currently see on here, but also to document my progression through med school. The first 2 years are the basic science years where we learn anatomy, biochemistry, pathophysiology of diseases, etc. Mostly lots of rote memorization in the classroom so nothing terribly interesting to write about, though cadaver dissection might be something I can go into sometime.
In July, I began Med 3, which is the start of the clinical years. This is when we rotate through the various general divisions of medicine (like surgery, internal medicine, pediatrics) and actually work in the hospitals and clinics. Each rotation is two months long (though some are divided into multiple parts) and I’ve decided to write an overall impression as I finish each one.
10 years of 9.9.99
On this 10th anniversary of the Sega Dreamcast U.S. launch on 9.9.99, I recommend reading this retrospective of the system by 1up writer Jeremy Parish. I don’t have much to add to that, except to say thanks for all the good times. Dreamcast is by far my favorite console that in the mere 18 months of its lifespan showcased such an unbelievable production of creativity by the industry’s finest.
One of these days I should rank a list of favorite Dreamcast games. It’s bittersweet to reflect on what Sega has become, but I’m merely stopping by today to pay my respects for the golden age. Echoing Parish: the Dreamcast was “a love letter to Sega’s fans, and to everyone who loves videogames.”
I begin my second rotation of Med 3 tomorrow: pediatrics. My first rotation from July-August was relatively light, so this is when the real work begins. I’m on call tomorrow night, which means my workday will be from 7 AM to 11 PM!! Next post will be a reflection of my first rotation (family medicine/ophthalmology). My schedule looks packed so I’ll hopefully have it online within a week…
UPDATE: I nearly forgot that I received an awesome Sonic the Hedgehog statue a few weeks ago. Never got around to photographing it, and if I had planned more carefully, today would have been the perfect day to show the statue. Stay tuned for that post as well.
